Why do we ignore the brothers' vocation?

[JReducation]

In other parts of the diocese, it is much worse. Benedictine monks (priests) have to staff most of the diocesan parishes in the rural areas to keep them open

This is an issue that the fraternal orders (orders founded as brotherhoods) are now discussing. Originally, they agreed to ordain more brothers to help the bishops. The idea was that this was to be temporary. Unfortunately, it has become long-term. Some of the orders and congregations too are questioning the wisdom of this.

They are finding themselves in a predicament that threatens the consecrated life:

1. A surplus of ordained men
2. A commitment to parishes, contrary to the intentions of the founders
3. The creation of two classes of religious in what should be a classless family
4. A decrease in community life
5. Separation from their brothers due to parochial obligations
6. Secularization of their members

Some communities have split over this issue. Where some brothers want to preserve the original charism and vision of the founder and others have become comfortable in the parish.

Other communities have decided to reduce the number of men that they ordain, allowing the surplus of priests to die by attrition.

Some communities, especially those of mixed life, are returning parishes to the bishops and leaving them to return to the fraternal life and their mission in the Church.

Other communities now have a majority number of priests, which forces them to reclassify themselves as clerical institutes. This denies the non-clerical brothers certain rights that are granted and protected by their rule and constitutions. They are out of compliance, so to speak.

As a result, new communities are being founded. Some are communities of clerics only. Others are communities of brothers only. And others are communities of mixed life. What they all have in common is that they are staying away from parish work or will only staff parishes among immigrants and the very poor, provided that their community life is not impaired by the parish.

I know that in my own community, we work alongside many very good and holy lay people who have excellent pastoral skills and training. This helps. It allows us to leave at different times of the day to pray the LOTH, eat and play together, spend time alone and in silence, study, take care of the needs of the religious community, attend such functions as community chapter, community retreat, celebrations and other activities that unite us as one family. There has to be a pool of people that produces: secular priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, lay ministers, teachers and evangelists. The Catholic family needs to engage in vocation ministry, encouraging its children to consider these options and helping the young to become familiar with the options. This also implies that the Catholic family has to recover the spirit of asceticism.

I shared that I was married once and have two adult children whom I visit every five-years. We stay in touch via email, telephone or they visit me. I received an interesting message, via PM, from another poster. He felt that the community was placing a demand on my children, because I can only visit every five-years. I read it and realized that he may have missed the point. When God calls your son, daughter, father or mother to the consecrated life, he is calling the entire family to give him a gift. The entire family is being drawn into the mystery of love and self-giving.

For example, I know a man who is the father of three and a grandfather. He is now a Carthusian. The Carthusians never return to the world. This man will never return to the home that he shared with his family. Their generosity does not go unnoticed or unrewarded by God… I’m not sure how often Carthusians receive visitors. I do know that they don’t go to visit their relatives.

When I was a novice, my sister got married. I was unable to attend her wedding. A good friend of mine was unable to attend his father’s funeral. But this is the gift that an entire family gives to God. This kind of generosity is only possible and fulfilling when we embrace the ascetical life.

If you ask my children, they will tell you that they miss their Dad, especially during holidays. But they’ll also tell you that they feel no resentment or experience a problem with the fact that Dad is a religious. They are very proud of their dad. My duaghter once said it best. She said, “God could have taken my father or one of my children to serve him. In either case, how can I deny him?”

I believe that this is the crux of the matter. Whether our sons become priests or brothers is up to God. Encouraging our sons to listen to the voice of God is up to parents. As to who will celebrate mass or hear confessions, worrying is not the solution. The solution is bringing children into the world and raising them in the faith. God will take care of the rest.

As long as we contracept, encourage our children to embrace other states in life and high powered careers, then we will not have the priests that we need. But we cannot sacrifice the religious life in order to get them. The sacrifice must take place within the family, not at the expense of the religious life. Only a family that embraces the ascetical life will produce men who will hear and respond to the call to either the priesthood or the brotherhood.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[1234]

I think that quite a few married people* are* aware at how ‘ascetic’ *married *life is, especially these days. Many don’t have jobs or medical insurance. Many are underemployed. Many send their kids to poor schools, where they get a poor, but expensive education. Many would have a higher standard of living if they were religious.

You imply that contraception leads to greed and parents’ not wanting their kids to be priests or religious, instead of “high-powered careers”. That without contraception, people will have a lot of children, who will become priests and religious. This may have been true many years ago when there were large immigrant families in the US which produced many religious in the US, especially women, who had no other prospects for education or a career.

 Nowadays, however, there are many opportunities for women, who are getting more advanced degrees than men and who have successfully entered the ranks of all professions and careers.  Nevertheless, many intelligent and educated  people are interested in religious life and the diocesan priesthood, despite one of the worst Catholic scandals in centuries.  Many young women are taking vows in a few habited orders, especially two Dominican teaching communities, a few Franciscan communities, and a number of others in smaller numbers.  Quite a few other women, mainly mature women, are entering the large aging communities which updated after Vatican II, whose members usually don’t wear a habit.  Taken together, all of these disparate newly professed religious represent dozens of women, perhaps more. The situation for men is similar, with a few large communities leading the pack, and others attracting smaller numbers.  There is even a slight uptick in entries into the diocesan seminaries.

But there is never going to be the flood of candidates that there was in the past. Times have changed. There are more opportunities for everyone, even in today’s economy. Bringing back large Catholic families would not necessarily produce more vocations, without a corresponding social isolation and limitation in opportunities , with existed in the past, something no one wants today. There are a few large families of home-schooled families which produce vocations, but this in no way reflects the norm.

Most parents just want their kids to be happy. Many parents don’t think think that being a priest or religious will make them happy, which is why they don’t encourage their children to consider religious life. But modern religious life has many options. It is * an ascetic life because of the vows, but not necessarily harder than married life with children, which is very difficult. Many religious don’t observe the penances and deprivations that you describe in your community, and which you appear to assume is the norm. Most active communities do* permit their members to visit their families more often than every five years, after initial formation,* do get adequate food and sleep, do enjoy TV, the occasional movie, books and media, do travel and take vacations. Many communities do* attract well-educated people from high-power careers who then pursue the same or other high-powered careers in their communities, managing large businesses, conducting retreats and spiritual training, teaching on advanced levels, or working as health care professionals.

 

[joandarc2008]

Wow - There is much good information here in a very short thread. I will say this from the perspective of the laity - I think when many of the Moms and Dads start hearing their little boys talk about religious life they immediately say priest and it is almost natural to keep fostering it. After all - lets look at it from the human standpoint

It takes a very special person to be a Brother and not ordain - there is no speaking at Mass, no giving confession, no consecrating the Eucharist - all those things little boys watched their priest do gorwing up that made those priests their role models. THe things Brothers do on a daily basis are usually not in the open for boys to role model after. Brothers are a thing of curiosity not a thing of role models- unless you are lucky enough to have a community.

The other thing is family - lets face it a Secular Priest sees family much more than a Religious Brother who has given up his family for that of a religious order.

Just a couple things to throw out there.

Pax,

 

[debraran]

I agree with 1234, things will never be the same and they shouldn’t be. Many holy men and women (like Fr. G) agree. Droves of young men and women shouldn’t go into the seminary or convent for the wrong reasons. It’s true many had strong vocations, but many didn’t. I’m, 51 and in speaking to priests, nuns and reading many books by them and former religious, many things repeat themselves. Here are some things that have been said:
An Irish priest told me he was expected to be “the son” that went in the seminary when his “bad” brother left. The pressure was enormous from very religious famiies and your desires were second. He said in his time, that was very common.
Another important message, especially among women was the shame in leaving when you entered, almost shunned by many, “you failed”, which you don’t see today. So many unhappy nuns or nuns just in the wrong order, but stayed because it was such a shame on them and their families. It’s hard to imagine that today but it existed. There was also much more secrecy and many nuns didn’t know what to expect until they entered.

Another aspect that many priests today think was a bad idea, was the young age many men entered and women…they got stuck in an infanitized state, going from parents to another person telling them what to do and not maturing properly. It’s easier younger, but I remember Fr. Groechel saying, you have more problems later.
I also had a priest say,“3 squares and a bed” when he talked about vocations in his day, it hurt a bit just not to hear, “God called me”, but the reality was many men with no job prospects, were told, “you’ll be taking care of, you usually had a rectory, other priests to help you, a nice older woman to do your cooking/cleaning, and people adored you.” He had a calling, but it helped that no other immediate prospect pulled him away, the choices were few.
I also think it’s a good thing that men don’t feel like hiding in the priesthood if they don’t want to marry or if they are gay (not pedophiles, they would still like it) I know family pressure, “Why aren’t you married??” made many who just couldn’t marry, find a place to hide and not have to answer the questions anymore.

I think the men and women becoming brothers, sisters and priests today are more “called” than before and although less in numbers, will have true vocations. You can’t to in out of pressure, or fear or to be “taken care of” today, it’s much harder and in some ways, that is better.

 

[JReducation]

These points are very valid and they are points that I always try to make to those who say that the lower numbers of men entering the brothers is a result of Vatican II. I’ll limit my comments to brothers, because that’s the OP. But the same can be said about priesthood and female religious life. What happened after WW II was an explosion. What happened after Vatican II was an implosion The kids were young and they moved from home to community living. This may not be a bad thing, depending on the home. The negative or positive effects are the same as moving from your parents home to your own home as you marry. What happens in the home is going to prepare you or not for what follows.

There are important considerations here and I’m glad that so many people are willing to discuss this, because it shows that people are willing to think about it rather than sweep the call to be a brother under the carpet. The numbers are very important. I believe that we’re not going to see the huge numbers that we saw after WW II, not for a long time, not in my lifetime.

That being said, we, as a community of Catholics should always keep the brotherhood in mind as we work in vocation ministry. This is where I am coming from. Vocation ministry is for every Catholic adult. But every Catholic adult must understand what the vocations or calls are. They are not just the call to be a sister or a priest. Especially for me, there is a call to be live the consecrated life of prayer, poverty, obedience, chastity, community, service, asceticism and service. What is important is to understand this call as the Church’s doctrine teaches it.

We tend to look at brothers and priests and to compare them. We see the priest as one who meets our sacramental and parish needs, while the brother does not do this. This vision is incomplete. The Church certainly sees priests as doing just that. But the Church also sees the life of the brother as a complete Christian life that needs nothing else. “Consequently, both for the individual and for the Church, it is a value in itself, apart from the sacred ministry.” This is the part that we often miss. The doctrine is that this life is desired value for the life of the Church. Without it, the Church is weakened. As Catholics, we must seek to promote and point men to strengthen the Church.

Some will argue that priesthood and marriage strengthen the Church. This is true, but not by themselves. The married man and the priest are incomplete without the brother. This is what the Church is teaching us. Therefore, if we want to see a truly strong Church, we have to strengthen it on all sides. I think of it like building a house. You can’t just have a strong foundation. You need good electrical work, solid plumbing, and a good roof, at least. If you take any of these away, and you buy the house, you may live to regret your purchase; or if you build a house and cut corners on any of these, you’ll have problems later.

Finally, the Church “expressed great esteem for the kind of consecrated life in which religious brothers provide valuable services of various kinds, inside or outside the community, participating in this way in the mission of proclaiming the Gospel and bearing witness to it with charity in everyday life. Indeed, some of these services can be considered ecclesial ministries, granted by legitimate authority.” This is important for all of us to remember. These men are part of the Church’s ministry, not simply “nice holy men” who couldn’t do better someplace else. The Church does not need this kind of man. She needs the man who is called to live an ecclesial life, serve the Church, especially through service to the most vulnerable and the poorest of the poor.

As we go out there to do vocation ministry in our parishes, we need to keep an eye and ear open for men who “sound” like consecrated men, not priests. That’s a whole other call. A priest may or may not be a consecrated man. But the brother lives the consecrated life without the distractions of the priesthood so that the life totally consecrated to the Gospel and intimacy with God shines for all to see and imitate. All of us should be vocation ministers; but we have to keep an eye open for all the men whom God calls. Some he calls to service: deacons, priests and bishops. Others he calls to intimacy: religious brother. And interestingly, some he calls to both: the man who is a religious and a priest.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

That being said, we, as a community of Catholics should always keep the brotherhood in mind as we work in vocation ministry. This is where I am coming from. Vocation ministry is for every Catholic adult. But every Catholic adult must understand what the vocations or calls are. They are not just the call to be a sister or a priest. Especially for me, there is a call to be live the consecrated life of prayer, poverty, obedience, chastity, community, service, asceticism and service. What is important is to understand this call as the Church’s doctrine teaches it.

I totally agree with this and want to point out that when adults make negative comments about religious, deacons, priests, and bishops, they are setting an example.

They may say they support an increase in vocations and may work towards that but one negative comment can destory everything. I would have to say that one of the hurdles in my discernment was just this. The negative comments made by lay people about individual bishops and priests.

You may feel this but you must be careful where you express it as you never know who is listening.

 

[JReducation]

It’s very important to remember that all Catholics are called to do vocation ministry. But to do this honestly, one has to help the inquierer to discern the call, not discern what we need. When it comes to men, the tendency is to guide all who feel called to serve the Church and live in intimate communion with Christ toward the priesthood. Often, what we are doing is guiding the inqierer based on our needs or our perceived needs. We need to guide the inquierer to look at the call itself. The only way that you can do that is to look at the alternatives open to men in the Church. In that way, vocation ministry is holistic and heuristic.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Richard_James]

Brother, I am trying to increase awareness to this vocation. I hope one day to become a brother, either as a Franciscan or as a Benedictine. I think the reason why the brothers’ vocation is because when it comes to vocations we just automatically associate men with the priesthood and women with the vocation to religious life. Also, a lot of vocation adds are done by dioceses who are obviously more concerned with the number of priests. Orders should be dedicating more resources to ensuring their survival.

 

[JReducation]

Brother, I am trying to increase awareness to this vocation. I hope one day to become a brother, either as a Franciscan or as a Benedictine. I think the reason why the brothers’ vocation is because when it comes to vocations we just automatically associate men with the priesthood and women with the vocation to religious life. Also, a lot of vocation adds are done by dioceses who are obviously more concerned with the number of priests. Orders should be dedicating more resources to ensuring their survival.

This is true. Dioceses are much more assertive in their recruitment. It is also true that the religious communities of men are less assertive. Additionally, it is true that in the USA we tend to narrow down the term vocation to: marriage, priesthood and sisterhood.

This is what impressed me about Archbishop Dolan. When he said that he was trying to promote all vocations and that the brothers were the forgotten vocation, it caught my attention. Here was on bishop that was addressing the whole picture. I know that there are others like him. The Diocese of St. Paul has its own congregtion of brothers. The Archdiocese of Boston has several congregations of brothers. Miami is now trying it. Then there are some foreign dioceses that are doing the same thing.

Some dioceses are also promoting the contemplative life for men and women. One of the most farsighted bishops of the 20th century was the Archbishop of Calcutta, who was once the Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity, before they became a Pontifical Congregation. He authorized and promoted the Missionaries of Charity, female and male… It was rather interesting, because in the 1940s, when he was working closely with Mother Teresa, the way of life and ministry that she was proposing had not been seen in the Church since the time of St. Francis. He was cautious, but at the same time he had a vision of the Church as much bigger than parishes. He realized that there was a need for consecrated men and women who would step outside of the traditional parish and bring Jesus to people that the parish priest cannot reach. It was his belief that these women and men, the women came first, would bring these souls into the Church. They would then be picked up by the parish priest. He had a vision of how the different states in life complement each other and at the same time are very unique and complete without each other.

This is a very interesting thought. Each state in life complements the other. Yet, each is complete. It does not need the other for its identity or to sanctify its members. I really like this vision of complementarity and completeness being simultaneous.

I encourage those who help others discern to look at the Church from the same point of view, the big picture, not just what we need in our community or our country.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[joandarc2008]

I am also quite impressed with the amount of visibility Cardinal Sean O’Malley has given the Religious in the Boston area. There are even a few Orders based on the Franciscan Rule founded Canonically under His Eminence. One of the groups, the Little Brother of Saint Francis are very small. They have no extras - no computer, no vehicle, etc and they are in a very rough area of Lawrence - they literally walk the Gospel. It is very Franciscan. They also take no money from anyone -when they speak for groups or help out with retreats they allow groups to pay a bill for them. It is not unheard of to see three different habits on the altar with the Cardinal. It is teaching by doing.

 

[JReducation]

I am also quite impressed with the amount of visibility Cardinal Sean O’Malley has given the Religious in the Boston area. There are even a few Orders based on the Franciscan Rule founded Canonically under His Eminence. One of the groups, the Little Brother of Saint Francis are very small. They have no extras - no computer, no vehicle, etc and they are in a very rough area of Lawrence - they literally walk the Gospel. It is very Franciscan. They also take no money from anyone -when they speak for groups or help out with retreats they allow groups to pay a bill for them. It is not unheard of to see three different habits on the altar with the Cardinal. It is teaching by doing.

Boston has more branches of Franciscan Brothers than any diocese in the country. Very few are ordained. But they do incredible work for the Church. The LIttle Brothers of St. Francis live a very austere life. They have nothing. Not only do they not have technology, but they don’t even have beds. They don’t have any furnishings in their chapel except an altar, a pedestal with a tabernacle and a few mats. Each brother has two habits and that’s it. They spend about four or six hours a day in prayer and then they go out to walk the streets of Lawrence. The preach by spending time with the poorest of the poor. They also have no income. They place lists of the things that they need in the local parishes and supermarkets. People just pick it up and deliver it to them.

There is another community of brothers known as the Franciscans of the Primitive Observance. These were the famous brothers who walked from Boston to Costa Rica. The bishop down there asked the Cardinal if he could have two of the brothers. He offered to send them airfare. The Guardian of the house said that they could go, with the Cardinal’s blessing of course, but they could not take the money for the plane ticket. The money was to be given to the brothers to pay for the food of the poor that they would be serving in Costa Rica. Two very young borthers, 33 and 27 set out on foot. They hitch-hiked all the way there, going through very dangerous territories through Central America. On the way, they made a number of converts.

They also have the Friars Minor from two provinces, the Friars Minor Capuchin, the Friars Minor Conventual and several other Franciscan congregations. Franciscans are a common sight in Boston. Some are in parishes, schools, the streets, shelters, soup kitchens and other rather interesting places.

We’re very proud of them.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Biedrik]

I am also quite impressed with the amount of visibility Cardinal Sean O’Malley has given the Religious in the Boston area. There are even a few Orders based on the Franciscan Rule founded Canonically under His Eminence. One of the groups, the Little Brother of Saint Francis are very small. They have no extras - no computer, no vehicle, etc and they are in a very rough area of Lawrence - they literally walk the Gospel. It is very Franciscan. They also take no money from anyone -when they speak for groups or help out with retreats they allow groups to pay a bill for them. It is not unheard of to see three different habits on the altar with the Cardinal. It is teaching by doing.

Ah yes, our good Cardinal Sean has made the Franciscans quite present. His presence made me consider the Franciscans before I applied to the seminary for the Archdiocese of Boston. We do love our Friar-Bishop.

And as Brother JR points out, the Franciscans have a very strong presence in Boston. I see them at almost ever major event in the city where the Church is involved. From a pro-life protest from a few months back to the ordination of two new bishops, they’re always there.

 

[joandarc2008]

Ah yes, our good Cardinal Sean has made the Franciscans quite present. His presence made me consider the Franciscans before I applied to the seminary for the Archdiocese of Boston. We do love our Friar-Bishop.

And as Brother JR points out, the Franciscans have a very strong presence in Boston. I see them at almost ever major event in the city where the Church is involved. From a pro-life protest from a few months back to the ordination of two new bishops, they’re always there.

I had an opportunity at a young adult event to ask Cardinal Sean to bless my Crown Rosary. He did the blessing in Latin. I will tell you that at that moment I would not have known that was anyone else in that room except His Eminence and myself - it was just the way he made me feel. His homily was amazing. He truly had that deep Franciscan Spirituality - one did not need to see the habit of the Capuchins after Mass to KNOW he is a Franciscan.

 

[JReducation]

Ah yes, our good Cardinal Sean has made the Franciscans quite present. His presence made me consider the Franciscans before I applied to the seminary for the Archdiocese of Boston. We do love our Friar-Bishop.

And as Brother JR points out, the Franciscans have a very strong presence in Boston. I see them at almost ever major event in the city where the Church is involved. From a pro-life protest from a few months back to the ordination of two new bishops, they’re always there.

I feel that one of the things that makes Franciscans special is the strong family spirit. There are three Franciscan Orders. Each of these has branches. The last total was about 112 branches, bringing the number of Franciscans in the Catholic Church to 1.7 million in 114 countries. This includes the Secular Order too.

The point is that regardless of which branch of the family you belong to, if you’re a bishop, the Franciscans rally around you. Normally, Franciscans shy away from diocesan affairs. But when one of our brothers becomes a bishop, it’s family. He’s one of our brothers and he’s the head of the local Church. We feel a duty to do whatever we can for that Church. We’ll promote vocations for the diocese, help with parishes, run its schools, walk its streets, there are very few things that we don’t do for our brothers who are bishops. You see the same strong presence in Denver, where Archbishop Charles Chaput is. The three orders make their presence very felt. It’s not a competition with the diocesan clergy. They don’t intervene in diocesan affairs. They are simply very supportive in whatever they are asked to do to help the work of their brother.

Pope Pius XII said it best. “Francis of Assis did not found three orders. He founded a family that still rallies around him.” The Franciscan presence that you see around Cardinal Sean is not because of him, but because of Francis. Francis is like this little magnet that draws his sons and daughers to him in order to teach them how to become saints. His sons and daughters are simply amazed by this spiritual father who is a giant in the life of the Church, even though he was shorter than Napoleon. He would certainly understand this thread very well and would ask the same question.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[mhoc1]

Hey guys,

Newbie here. This is my first post ever! I’ve been an observer for the past few weeks. Ever since I started discerning the religious life more seriously, I stumbled upon this forum and I appreciate all your discussions and comments. I’m discerning to be a brother, not a priest. I’m 28 and feel strongly called to be a brother. I don’t feel attracted to administering sacraments. However, I am attracted to praying several times (several hours) a day, living in community, doing manual labour, daily mass, poverty, doing work of evangelization and fighting for pro-life. All these are life-giving to me. I tried for so long to shake off my desire to live an ascetic life (mainly due to peer pressure and family pressure) but I always end up yearning for it.

But I must say, it is indeed lonely. Most of the faithful people I am surrounded with are discerning marriage or the priesthood. No one but me is discerning to be a friar.

God bless you and your vocation!
Marcus

 

[GilChrist77]

I just wanted to chime in here and say thank you Brother Jay for starting this thread.
I’m a young woman living a personal consecration in the world while waiting to discover what order I belong with and am very passionate about promoting all vocations. It has always saddened me that so often the vocation to become a religious brother is so often left behind and I’ve wanted to remedy that but didn’t really feel knowledgeable about the vocation until reading some things that some of the Brothers here have posted. Thank you so much for sharing and I’ll be doing my best to encourage this vocation!

JMJDTF+
~Betsy

Totus tuus Maria! Let’s see what the good God wills.

 

[JReducation]

I didn’t think this was going to generate much interest, but I thought I’d give it a shot. We have to look at things from the perspective of the Church. We all, including me, tend to look at things from our situation. What’s out of sight is out of mind.

I remember, during my early years of study, one of the first signs of cognitive processes is the awareness of object permanence. When you show a baby something and you hide it, tell him that it disappears, it ceases to exist. As our minds mature, we realize that there is a difference between existence and awareness. Just because we’re unaware, does not make it less real. The next time someone shows you that toy and makes it disappear, you look behind the person’s back for it. You have now achieved object permanence.

What is happening in the world of vocation ministry is a regression to an infantile way of thinking. We are regressing to a point where we’re concerned only with that part of the faith and the life of the Church that is immediate to us. The rest, is out of our realm of concern. This is not the stuff that saints are made off. Saints have a strong awareness of the Church, while at the same time, they pay close attention to what is immediately before them. They are balanced people. That’s probably why all of them are so sane, that psychology and psychiatry can’t describe them. Their sanity is off the charts.

All of us are called to be saints. To get there, we have to think like them. We have to see the Church and realize that she’s catholic. She’s bigger than our parish, our needs, our preferences, our desires or our beliefs.

The consecrated life of the brother is part of this universal Church. It’s not an accidental part. The Church herself tells us that it’s essential to her life. The priest is essential to the sacramental life of the Church and for the Apostolic Succession. The brother is essential to the prophetic life of the church and to her image of her future. The brother is John the Baptist.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[rachael_maria]

The consecrated life of the brother is part of this universal Church. It’s not an accidental part. The Church herself tells us that it’s essential to her life. The priest is essential to the sacramental life of the Church and for the Apostolic Succession. The brother is essential to the prophetic life of the church and to her image of her future. The brother is John the Baptist.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

Where do lay people fit in?

 

[joandarc2008]

Where do lay people fit in?

Check out Chapter 2 of Lumen Gentium - it is a good read on the people of the Church. The lay people are the Church shortly said. But it is a great read and very beautiful.

 

[melchesidechpio]

As I read through these vocation threads, I can’t help feeling a bit concerned about the lack of enthusiasm or encouragement given to men to consider becoming religious brothers. One of my favorite Franciscans is my own confrere, Fr. Benedict Groeschel. He and I came out of the same religious tradition, the Capuchin Franciscans. Therefore, we share the same love and concern for the call to be brothers. It’s a very powerful Franciscan theme, since we were founded as an order of brothers, with only a few priests who actually came already ordained. The original priests came from different diocese and some, such as Anthony of Padua, came from other religious orders that were known for being clerical orders. However, Anthony left the Augustinians attracted by Francis’.

Francis was never a priest. There are theories that he may have been ordained a deacon later in life, probably three-years before his death. He founded our family in 1209. At least that’s the year in which the first rule was approved. Obviously the brothers existed before 1209. We know that the first brothers who came were laymen, not priests. There was at least one priest who joined them prior to the approval of the first rule in 1209. However, if Francis were actually ordained a deacon, it was not until 1223, 14-years after the order had been founded. By that time it was well established as an order of brothers. Those men, such as Anthony, who came already ordained surrendered every claim to special treatment or special place in the community. They were not allowed to distinguish themselves from their brothers, even relinquishing the title, Father. So that Francis became the only Father.

Fast forward to the 21st century. In several interviews that I have seen on Fr.Groeschel’s show with different people, including Archbishop Dolan and Fr. Richard Ho Lung, there was a very strong mention of the need for brothers in the life of the Church. Archbishop Dolan made an interesting comment. He said that he always makes it a point to mention the brothers when speaking about vocations. He referred to the brothers as “the forgotten vocation by the laity”. Fr. Richard also made a strong case for the brothers. When asked about his community he was emphatic that they were a community of brothers. In fact, they are so strict about this that they ordain only 1/10. They deliberately keep the number of priests down in order to present their religious family as a family of brothers. They refer to their ordained men as “priest-brothers”. Fr. Benedict then added how in the Franciscan family we try to diminish, as much as possible the differences between the ordained and the non-ordained by referring to the ordained as “clerical-friars” or simply, “the clerics” The Archbishop made it a point to remind the audience that the brothers had taken a greater hit than the priests and the need for brothers was actually even more critical than the need for priests, because of the dwindling numbers. Obviously, we need both. However, the Church does not want the brothers to disappear.

The question is, what happens on these vocation forums when the life of the brothers is not promoted equally, even though the Church and the religious orders believe it to be essential to the life of the Church and see these men as equal to priests in the duties and rights and as very distinct from the laity? Should we not promote this way of life?

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

Br. JR,

I am so touched at your comments and your knowledge. I have strong feelings about promoting vocations. If I hadn’t met my fiancee I probably would have started the process of becoming a priest. I however am in formation in the S.F.O. I feel we need to promote a way of life for men to become priest and brothers, more so the priests.